'Nowhere for the water to go': Tornadoes, rescues, flooding swamp Central US day after 19 tornadoes

Tuesday 21 May, 2019

Emergency officials conducted high-water rescues and a tornado roared near Tulsa International Airport on Tuesday as a powerful storm system battered Oklahoma and threatened at least five states.

"Luckily no damage and flights should be resuming soon," airport officials tweeted Tuesday morning. Travelers were briefly moved to shelters and some flights were canceled.

In Stillwater, Oklahoma State University shut down and emergency responders were rescuing people from homes overwhelmed by high water. El Reno, 25 miles west of Oklahoma City, was partially underwater, and city officials warned waters would continue to rise throughout the day.

City Hall and schools were closed, and first responders were "working diligently to assist the citizens affected by high water," Mayor Matt White said.

"All the ponds and all the creeks are completely full," he said. "There is nowhere for the water to go."

In Texas, high winds and storms forced Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to alter traffic patterns, causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 1 hour and 36 minutes.

Tornadoes, strong winds, downpours and hail threatened parts Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois a day after at least 20 tornadoes rolled through the region.

"Thunderstorms capable of damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes are possible from the middle Mississippi Valley south," the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center warned.

Tornadoes in sparsely populated areas damaged homes and barns in Oklahoma on Monday, but no injuries were reported. In the southwestern Oklahoma town of Mangum. Glynadee Edwards, the Greer County emergency management director, said roofs of homes were damaged and the high school’s agriculture barn was destroyed. The livestock survived, however.

“The pigs are walking around wondering what happened to their house,” she said.